We are sometimes accused of being a nation obsessed with past glories rather than future successes. Yet what other country is as prepared to sacrifice its iconic buildings – the sites of great national deeds, courage or ingenuity – to developers of luxury flats for the selected few who can afford them?

These sales are inevitably controversial, but are they simply an inevitable consequence of Britain's changing role in the 21st century?

Perhaps most controversial of all will be the imminent sale of Bentley Priory. Perched on a hill commanding views across the whole of London to the South Downs beyond, it is an astonishing building – a Grade II* country house in Stanmore, Middlesex, revered as the nerve centre of the Battle of Britain, the spiritual home of "the Few" – the fighter pilots who deterred the German aerial invasion in 1940 against all the odds.

Air Chief Marshal Lord "Stuffy" Dowding, who led the operation, worked 48-hour shifts in his office there. His leather-topped desk, many of his papers and other effects still occupy the room with its views across a stone balcony to the formal Italian garden below.

Only a few lucky visitors ever glimpse this extraordinary slice of history, as the high-security site is still occupied by the Ministry of Defence.

But, incredibly, the Priory, beautifully remodelled and extended by the great 18th-century architect Sir John Soane, is soon to be sold off as multi-million pound luxury apartments as part of the RAF's withdrawal from six London sites to a new single HQ at RAF Northolt.

Plans are being drawn up for six to eight "high-end" flats in the Priory itself – with a further 100-odd villas, townhouses and apartments in the 50- acre surrounding parkland. Construction, once a developer has been found, is expected to start in just 12 months, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal, with the first buyers moving in by 2010.

Needless to say, the prospect of Bentley Priory ceasing its 82-year association with the RAF has alarmed surviving fighter pilots – many of whom still turn up annually for a commemorative ceremony when Spitfires and Hurricanes roar overhead in honour of those who once fought in them.

Squadron Leader "Bam" Bamberger, who flew Spitfires during the Battle of Britain, told The Sunday Telegraph: "When we first heard that the MoD was to sell Bentley Priory, all members of the Battle of Britain Fighter Association were shattered. Bentley Priory is a memorial for the nation to those who served in the Battle of Britain in any capacity."

Many others are angered at what they see as a cynical MoD fundraising exercise. But support for a commemorative permanent museum inside the Priory building is growing.

Harrow Council, a key player as the local authority awarding planning permission to any development, has now publicly stated its aim to have the key rooms, including Dowding's office and the magnificent Soane Rotunda, safeguarded from developers as a public Battle of Britain museum separate from the private flats to either side, above and below.

The pilot veterans, including Squadron Leader Bamberger, have also set up the Bentley Priory Battle of Britain Trust (BPBBT), which is negotiating with the MoD's contractors overseeing the sale, the Anglo-French VSM Estates, to ring-fence the rooms and for funding for the museum as part of the sale.

Meanwhile, VSM, although sympathetic, is also contractually obliged to maximise the sale value of the site for the MoD, which inevitably means protecting future residents' interests.

"The museum would have to be completely soundproofed," says VSM's land director Gus Gusterson. "The whole viability of the project cannot be destroyed by the museum becoming a nuisance. If we can't deliver a premium project, the whole sustainability will not work."

That said, VSM has already made one major concession to the museum's supporters. Residents will not be allowed to use the imposing Soane entrance – once frequented by Churchill, Eisenhower and the Royal Family – but will access their building from new doorways at the side, in order to preserve the museum's integrity for visitors.

"Luckily, the rooms that are historically interesting in WWII terms are also the best examples of Soane's work, so it was easy to identify those that would best make a museum," says Erica Ferguson, a retired squadron leader and now part of the BPBBT.

No one is under the illusion that it will be easy to reconcile the need of any museum to offer both veterans and visitors what they want with the requirements of wealthy residents, who are expected to have to pay up to £5 million or more for the best properties.

Privacy and security – the museum would house priceless historic relics, while residents will be mindful of the thousands of visitors expected on-site – will also need careful consideration. Opening the parkland to visitors, including the glorious, statue-filled Italian gardens and limited access to the three-storey underground nuclear bunker, will pose its own problems in terms of residents' privacy, and who will foot the bill for maintenance?

The developers are expected to pay for the large-scale clearing of inappropriate Leylandii trees and other scrubland that currently obscure the views, but there will be many future costs. Despite these costs and the controversy, however, both the Trust and VSM – aided by Harrow Council and advice from the Prince's Regeneration Trust – believe a compromise can be found.

There is still much to attract the potential buyer. One of the apartments will command arguably the best view in London over the south-facing balcony – immortalised by Laurence Olivier as Dowding in the 1966 Battle of Britain film, which was shot at the Priory.

With its own roof terrace accessed through towering French windows, the apartment will comprise a vast double height semi-circular drawing room boasting much of the building's original Soane grandeur, although few of its original internal features, as these were destroyed in a fire in the Seventies.

In the grounds, Robert Adam Architects, renowned for their historically sensitive work, have been commissioned to design new residential buildings ranging from relatively modest studios through £1 million townhouses to £5 million-plus grand villas near the park entrance, with their large gardens.

"The new buildings are designed with many references to Soane, while the apartments will be pretty luxurious, with the existing RAF partitions knocked down to conjure the spirit of a large country house," says Hartley Davies of Robert Adam Architects.

And what of the past and future residents of Bentley Priory?

A couple of centuries ago, when the Priory was home to John James Hamilton, Marquis of Abercorn, he used it to entertain luminaries such as Sir Walter Scott, Wordsworth, William Pitt the Younger and the Duke of Wellington. A few decades later, Queen Adelaide, widow of William IV, lived there from 1846 until her death in 1849.

In a few years' time, City bankers or captains of industry may be sharing it with a museum frequented by school parties and history buffs. But the spirit of the Battle of Britain fighters will live on there for years to come.